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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position.For example: C sharp and D flat.






2. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






3. A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts.






4. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






5. A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time - always beginning on the third beat of the measure.






6. Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.






7. A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone.






8. Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.






9. Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.






10. Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.






11. A composition based on previous work. A common technique used in Medieval and Renaissance music.






12. A rhythmic succession of musical tones - a melody for instruments and voices.






13. The unit of musical rhythm.






14. Introduction to an opera or other large musical work.






15. Music that is easy to listen to and understand.






16. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.






17. The movement of chords in succession.






18. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






19. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






20. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






21. A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






22. Repetition of a single tone.






23. Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times.






24. The structure of a piece of music.






25. A repeated phrase.






26. A quick 20th century dance written in double time.






27. A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.






28. The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.






29. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






30. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






31. A composition whose style is simple and idyllic; suggestive of rural scenes.






32. Dull - monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody.






33. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






34. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






35. A harmonic given off by a note when it is played.






36. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700's to mid 1800's. The music was spare and emotionally reserved - especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music.






37. Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.






38. Suite of Baroque dances.






39. Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service.






40. Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.






41. The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.






42. A short light musical drama.






43. A chord progression that seems to lead to resolving itself on the final chord; but does not.






44. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






45. The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.






46. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.






47. A composition written for eight instruments.






48. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






49. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






50. The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.